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Muscle Building and BodybuildingTopics related to muscle building, bodybuilding, including training and fullbody workouts. If you are looking for great advice on gaining muscle this forum is for you.

How neccessary is concentration to you while you are lifting? I do not like to be bothered and really like to concentrate on my form. But I have seen other lifters not really so much paying attention to what they are really doing. I would much prefer to do my socializing after I am all done with my workouts.

For me its all about consistency during a session. When I did train with others, I started the session off with distraction of socializing and whatnot. Because of that, it felt as though it was apart of the environment and it wasn't a distraction.

That said, I was able to shut off my mind within the second prior to a lift. Clear the mind and perform the lift before getting back to whatever it was.

On the otherhand when I'd start off training alone and someone or some distraction would come around half way through my session, I'd well... get distracted. That person or thing moving around or making noise was not apart of the environment before and is now sticking out like a sore thumb. My focus, as much as I try not, is diverted.

Same goes for music. If I begin a session without music, turning something on part way through a session becomes a HUGE distraction. But having it on from the beginning does nothing.

Either way, you gotta have a clear mind right before the lift and during it. Without that, it won't matter if your miles from a distraction or you have someone lighting fire crackers right next to your head.

I don't mind a little chit-chat between sets on heavy day when there is time between sets, but on a speed day it's bothersome. I don't rest long between sets. If someone wants to talk while I'm lifting, so be it. But I won't stop to listen.

Obviously during the set concentrate on what you're doing but I joke around between sets.

I learned early on you have to have the ability to disassociate yourself from the world when the set is about to start, but then relax in between sets. If you keep yourself hyped up for 1-2 hours you'll burn yourself out. Or worse try that on competition day where you could be lifting for 8 hours or more and see where that gets you.